The Pro Patria parliamentary group decided that Estonia should not join the UN's global compact for migration as it may start infringing on its right to self-determination in blocking migration.

According to Pro Patria Party chairman Helir-Valdor Seeder, there is a risk that the migration pact might end up part of customary international law and thus start infringing on states' powers in regulating migration.

The coalition Pro Patria Party announced that it is of the opinion that Estonia must retain its sovereign powers of decision when it comes to the regulation and prevention of migration from third countries.

Seeder also referred to the assessments and warnings of academic and international law expert Lauri Mälksoo regarding the subsequent legal implications of and restrictions on countries' future actions resulting from the pact.

"We cannot rush headlong into approving a pact that may in the future start restricting our right to self-determination in the field of migration," said the party chairman. "There are several acts in the UN that Estonia has not joined as a result of its national interests. Thus, possible non-accession would not be any sort of precedent."

MP Mart Nutt added that the Pro Patria parliamentary group would base its stance first and foremost on the position adopted by the Estonian government. "If the government reaches a decision, then we will consider how to move forward," he said.

Anti-compact petition gathers 1,000 signatures in half day

An online petition against the UN migration compact launched by the opposition Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) on Monday earned some 1,000 signatures in just half a day.

EKRE is hoping to pressure the government into abandoning its plan to join the UN's global compact for migration to be approved in Marrakesh in December, and aims to gather 10,000 signatures in support of this position by the end of November.

"The Marrakesh agreement is a conspiracy woven behind the backs of nation states according to which they want, against the constitutional order, to make us a destination country for immigration," EKRE deputy chairman Martin Helme said when launching the petition. "This is a thorough programme for the eradication of nation states and the advancement of multiculturalism."

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